Pair of Vintage Faux-Antique Round Dzi Beads, 13.8×13.7mm & 13.6×13.2mm, agate (V-FA-062526-TSWS-TT)

✦ All photographs are unretouched. ✦

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These two beads carry different motifs on the same black ground — and on a spherical form, that difference rotates continuously as you turn them.

Bead A has a warm dark chocolate-brown ground and carries a composition of tiger stripes, wave lines, and small dot elements distributed across its surface. The motif lines are sandy-cream in tone, applied with the slightly rough, matte-textured finish characteristic of this style of faux-antique construction. The stripes run as horizontal bands; the wave cuts through them as a chevron-inflected line; the dot elements sit between and below, reading as stars or spot markings depending on the angle. On a sphere there is no fixed top or bottom, so the composition never resolves into a single reading — it shifts as the bead moves.

Bead B is darker throughout. From the white-background photographs the ground reads pitch-black, and the cream motif elements carry the same sandy, slightly weathered texture as Bead A. The composition on Bead B is built from chevron wave lines and tiger tooth forms — angular, directional elements that stack and intersect across the curved surface. Where Bead A reads as layered and distributed, Bead B reads as bold and angular. The two beads share a construction tradition and a ground colour, but they do not share a composition.

Both beads are spherical in form — 13.8×13.7mm and 13.6×13.2mm respectively. The surface on both shows the deliberately aged, slightly abraded finish that defines the faux-antique style: high-gloss black ground with sandy-cream motif lines that have been worked to appear worn. No bloodspots are visible on either bead.

This is not a genuine antique or ancient bead, though it now carries over two decades of its own age.

The Motifs

The tiger stripe is one of the oldest recurring elements in the dzi vocabulary, appearing across carnelian and agate beads throughout Central and South Asia for over a thousand years. In its original form it functioned as a marker of power and protection. The wave motif — chevron-inflected or flowing — appears across many dzi traditions as a symbol of movement, continuity, and the boundary between states. The tiger tooth form, a bold inverted-V or mountain-peak element, carries associations with strength and grounding. Together on these two beads, the elements are distributed rather than combined: each bead takes a different selection from the same symbolic vocabulary.

Spec Block

Motif: Bead A — Tiger Stripe, Wave & Star; Bead B — Tiger Tooth & Wave
Length: 13.8mm (Bead A); 13.6mm (Bead B)
Diameter: 13.7mm (Bead A); 13.2mm (Bead B)
Form: Round / spherical pair
Material: Agate
Age Estimate: Crafted around 2000; approximately 25 years old
Condition: No cracks or chips observed in photographs. Deliberately aged faux-antique surface finish on both beads.
Bloodspots: None
Product ID: V-FA-062526-TSWS-TT
Collection: New & Vintage Dzi | Pairs & Sets

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Looking for the genuine article?
For genuine antique tiger stripe motifs in carnelian, see Antique Five Tiger Stripe Carnelian Dzi Reworked, At-070822-6TS, and Three Eye Tiger Stripe Carnelian Dzi Chocolate Brown. For antique agate wave motifs, see At-052526-DW3 and At-052526-DW4.

Its companion pieces:
This pair sits alongside the White/Cream-Ground Tiger family: Vintage Nine Eye Dzi Antique Style Finish — Tiger Stripes, Eyes & Stars, crackled cream-white ground — and Vintage White Tiger Tooth Stripes Dzi — Tiger Tooth & Stripes, crackled cream-white ground. Note the distinction: those two beads have a cream-white crackled ground; this pair has a black ground. Different construction, different visual register entirely.

• What Are Dzi Beads? History, Meaning & Authentication
• The Meaning of Dzi Bead Motifs

Two beads, one tradition, no shared composition — and on a sphere, you never see the same face twice.

✦ All photographs are unretouched. ✦

Photos: Unretouched product images. All photos taken by Ancient Dzi Shop.

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